


hey sister

by alicerosehicks25



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23375185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicerosehicks25/pseuds/alicerosehicks25
Summary: this is my take on the 9-1-1 lone star story line containing all the amazing characters from the TV show plus a few of my own creations.this story centres around Ava Strand, the older sister of TK Strand and the oldest child of Owen Strand. when Owen and TK move to Austin, Ava has to deal with her turbulent relationship with her brother and try and find a way to rekindle their damaged relationship.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Grace Ryder/Judd Ryder (9-1-1 Lone Star), Owen Strand & TK Strand
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	1. part 1

**Disclaimer: none of these characters are my own apart from any I create for fanfiction purposes only. "The story I tell here about TK and Ava is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of 9-1-1’s story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line."**

Ava strand was sat in her car, her hands were clinging to the steering wheel in a death grip, she was staring at literally nothing. She had just worked one of the worst shifts ever. Not only had they had to deal with a huge road traffic accident, involving three cars and a bus full of school kids. Hours later they had received the call from the 9-1-1 operators that the 126 crew were all coming in from a failed call, there had been a gas explosion, killing all of them bar one man, who also happened to be her best friends’ husband, Judd Ryder.

It wasn’t the images of the patients, or her close friends, lying in the beds clinging to life, that were haunting her.

No.

It was the cries of their families as she and her colleagues told them, one by one that their, son, husband, father, brother was dead. And then having to restrain Grace as she ran to her husband who was clinging to his life in intensive care.

And this is where she found herself, sitting in her cold, dark car, at 3am, crying her eyes out. The first thing you get taught in med school, is how to cope with death. But no matter how much you prepare, you can never prepare for the first death of one of the patients in your care, you just can’t. now she had experienced more death than she could count on her fingers, but this time, Ava felt overwhelmed and sad, just sad.

It was so unfair that they all had to die, and it was unfair that when Judd woke up, he would have no friends left, and no job either. And this all lead Ava to question how the god that grace so deeply believes in, would allow such a tragedy like this to occur.

Picking up her phone, Ava unlocked it and called her Dad.

Her dad, Owen Strand, was her hero, her role model, and her rock. She loved him with all her heart. And she knew that he would have something supportive to say and then he would start telling her about this new health thing he’d discovered to take her mind off the fact that she’d had a crap shift.

“Ava are you okay, it’s 3am?” her dad’s voice said through the phone.

“yeah, sorry it’s so late, or so early, I don’t know, guess I’m apologising for both.” She rambled

“what happened Ava?” he asked, with that gentle, supportive voice.

“uh...I..I had a really, really bad shift dad, like nuclear bad.” She stammered.

“oh Ava, I’m sorry, do you want to talk about it” he asked

“not really, just needed to hear your voice and tell you that I love you so much.” She murmured.

“okay, well what if I told you that I discovered this new vegan restaurant down the road from the station, and they do amazing quesadillas, which I know are your favourite” he said cheerily.

Ava smiled, “they are my favourite, which filling is your favourite?” she asked.

“hmmm hard question, probably the avocado and black bean one” he replied.

They chatted for about an hour, and they just talked about anything other than their jobs, Ava told him about Matt’s promotion to master chief, in the navy, and how they are decorating the house. Owen told her about TK who had signed up to run the New York marathon and how they are getting along well. Then he said he had to go because he had a shift in the morning, so she said goodnight and hung up.

The second she put the phone down she was reminded of reality, that a whole fire house had been killed tonight and somehow, she had to come to work tomorrow and forget that it ever happened. Because if she dwelled on it too much, it would consume her, the grief, the questioning at whether she could have done more, could she have done anything differently, what if she’d intubated him quicker or focused on her injuries more than someone else’s.

To distract herself from her own head, Ava put the radio on and wacked up the volume, it was rubbish country song that she had never heard of before, but it did the trick, and so as she pulled up outside her house, she saw that Matt had left the lounge light on.

When ava got into the house, she dumped her bag in the hall, and trudged up the stairs, she took off her shoes, and all her clothes and put one of Matt’s t-shirts on and crawled into bed, and curled up next to Matt and fell asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three months later

Owen sat in the waiting area of the hospital ER, just half an hour ago, Owen had found his son, unconscious on the floor, in cardiac arrest after overdosing on opioids. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it didn’t make it any less scary.

Owen had managed to bring his son back to life and had joined him in the ambulance whilst he was whisked away to hospital, while his team desperately tried to keep him awake and breathing after the Narcan started to wear off.

So, this is how Owen ended up sitting in a hard-plastic chair, sipping a tepid coffee, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell him, his son was okay physically. But that was not what was on his mind, no, it was the fact that he at some point would have to tell his daughter, TK’s older sister, and that was not a conversation he fancied.

Not only would Ava go into medical mode, demanding to speak to the doctor who was caring for her brother, but she would also start worrying, panicking and threatening to come over, get the next flight and she would go into overprotective sister mode.

But Owen needed to do this, needed to let her know, needed to. So, picking up his phone, he pressed call on her name.

“hiya dad, how are you?” she chirped through the phone.

“hey Ava, I need to tell you something.” He said, cringing at his solemn tone

“what, is everything okay? Are you okay? Are you hurt? is Tk alright? Is he hurt?” she practically shouted down the phone.

“ava, calm down, I’m fine, but TK…he, he overdosed this morning, he’s okay, he’s alive, but I don’t know why and I’m just waiting for the doctor to come and let me know how he is” he said, trying to ignore the growing lump in his throat.

“oh my god, do you need me to come over, I can do that if you need. I’m probably owed some holiday.” She whispered

“err, no, don’t come over we’ll be okay. But there is something else I need you to know” Owen said.

“yeah dad, you know you can tell me anything” Ava replied.

“I have been offered a job down there in Austin, and I was just wondering whether it would be okay with you, if I took it, TK would come of course. And to be frank, I think a change of scene would do him some good. But I don’t want to impede on your life over there.”

“dad, that’s amazing, of course it’s fine, what kind of question is that. I think you would love it out here.” Ava replied.

Owen smiled, that was why he was so proud of his daughter, she always thought of other people. In the end Owen had to hang up and go because the doctor came out asking for ‘Mr Strand’. He told him that TK was doing well, he was awake and on oxygen just to get his levels up again. But that he could go home after his psych evaluation, which we will be this afternoon.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ava was in her office when her dad called her, to tell her than her little brother had overdosed again. When she heard that, she felt like her whole world had just come crashing down. She knew TK had an opioid addiction, but she thought that after his first overdose he had it in control, but obviously not.

She wasn’t cross, but to a lot of people that’s how it came across. No, she was scared. Scared of losing her brother, the boy she had desperately tried to protect from the cruel world. Because TK strand was too nice for this world to harm him. But it did, repeatedly.

Sighing, she put her phone down, and went back into the rather quiet ER and grabbed a file from the large pile on the reception desk and called out the name of her next patient. As she led the young boy who had a wonky finger and his mother, who looked close to hyperventilating, to one of the cubicles, she glanced back at her office door. Still finding it strange that she was the ER coordinator, responsible for everyone in the department and yet she still felt like an intern every time she walked through the doors of the hospital.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TK sat in the hospital bed, whilst he waited for his dad, to fetch his clothes from the car. His whole body ached, and his limbs all felt like lead. He didn’t mean to overdose, but he just was so angry and ashamed with himself for falling for Alex, so hard and then after months of a turbulent relationship, to expect the man to marry him. God, he felt stupid.

But what made it worse, was the fact that he had five missed calls from his sister and two unread text messages, he knew that dad had told her. But he couldn’t face explaining it all to her as she would get angry with him, tell him he needed help and that why does he do it to dad and all that. At least his dad understood and cared.

TK had always gotten along well with his older sister, until the age of about 18 when he first overdosed. It was like a switch had gone off inside her and she no longer cared. She just got angry and defensive whenever they talked about it. At first it hurt him, but then he started to become immune to her altogether and now five years later, they barely talk and when they must, it’s because its Christmas or thanksgiving or dad’s birthday.

In truth, TK missed her. After their mum left, Ava was the one who cared for him, as dad was always at the station. She was the one who walked him to school, walked him home. She was there when he had nightmares, when he couldn’t sleep. When every time dad went to work, and TK thought he wouldn’t come home. She was always there. To make him laugh, to make him feel better. she was the one he came out to, when he was fifteen. She held him while he cried out all his frustrations and fears, she was the one who convinced him to tell dad. She was the one who took him to his first pride, stood up for him when he was called out for being gay. She was the one who helped him revise for his fire academy exams, even though she was revising for her own exams. She always put him first and yet now it was like she never did any of that and he had dreamt it all. Because now she didn’t do anything for him, she didn’t even reply to his texts. And god that hurt the most.

Tk was pulled out of his thoughts by his dad walking back into the room with a bag of clothes and his trainers. Tk got changed and then his dad, told him to meet him in the car, whilst he checked Tk out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Almost twelve hours after the overdose, Owen found himself sitting on the roof of his apartment trying to establish why on earth TK decided to overdo. Turns out that piece of shit, Alex had been cheating on Tk with his spin instructor and that TK just couldn’t cope with it.

Owen refrained from saying out loud that he always knew that Alex was going to hurt TK. That would not have gone down well, but instead Owen told TK that they were moving to Austin permanently.

Owen knew that TK and Ava didn’t get along, and it killed him that his two children just couldn’t stand each other. He had to admit he had no idea when they started to drift apart. Owen had a pretty good idea that it was something to do with TK overdosing the first time. But he couldn’t be sure. Ava was a complicated person, just like her mother, and if you tried to delve too deep, well then Ava would build her walls up so high that you just had to back away and try again. And even if you did get past the wall, you were met with metal spikes.

With Ava you had to let her come to you, whereas with TK, you knew when something was wrong because he wore his emotions on his sleeve. TK was like him, in every aspect except his hair. That he got from his mother; those dark locks could attract anyone.

Owen looked to his left and found that TK had taken his advice and had gone to get some rest. Ever since the kids had moved out and that was years ago, Owen had kept their rooms, the same. Except for all the stuff that teenagers accumulate, that had been put in boxes and put in storage. But their rooms were still their rooms, and when Owen went back down into the apartment, that was where he found TK, asleep in his newly renovated room. Owen smiled and turned the light off.

Looking at the clock on the wall, Owen saw that it was past midnight, so after checking the locks and closing the blinds, Owen went to bed, excited for his and TK’s future in Austin.

**To be continued…..**


	2. part 2

The sun streaming through the window of her bedroom woke Ava up, the window was open, and the curtains were drawn but the sun was still shining through the sheer fabric. There was a distant humming coming from the bathroom, that would be Matt, he always claimed that he couldn’t sing, so instead he hummed. But that was not true, he could sing, he was too shy to sing in front of her.

Smiling, Ava swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her robe from the chair. She walked over to the doorframe of the bathroom and snapped a quick photo of her fiancé in her dressing down with a towel turban on his head, humming away to the radio that was playing in their bedroom.

“good morning, my love” she said whilst holding her phone up.

Matt turned around, and when he saw her holding the phone up, he dropped the toothbrush he’d been holding, and face palmed.

“Oh, my goodness, your face.” She laughed.

“you know that if I didn’t love you two hundred percent, I would totally walk out of this house and never come back Ava” Matt sighed.

“I know, I know, the content will never ever, leave my camera roll, I promise” she whispered as she hung her arms around his neck.

“mmm, I could stay here all day, but I have training to do and you have a shift in five hours” Matt murmured as he kissed her neck.

“that’s a shame” she replied, as she kissed his lips.

After they had kissed, Ava went downstairs and started making breakfast, it was slightly chaotic, as she was making the breakfast with boxes and bubble wrapped furniture all around her, not to mention the fact that the dining room was being decorated and so was a no go area. They had only just moved here from their old apartment in the centre of Austin. After Matt had been promoted to master chief, he announced that they could finally afford to buy their very own house with the sale from the apartment and his salary raise.

So, after months of financial checks, house searching and very stressful phone calls late at night, they had moved into what would eventually become their dream house, where they could start their very own family.

There was only a slight hurdle and that was the fact that it was a complete blank canvas, and Matt being obsessed with interiors had taken it upon himself to design it himself. He was going to knock down walls, put in floor to ceiling windows, extend the kitchen and make it modern and classic at the same time. It was all complete rocket science to Ava, she had wanted to buy a new build, something that didn’t need much work, but in the end she had to compromise with Matt considering that he was paying the higher sum for the mortgage. They would buy that house, if she could have the best kitchen in the world, as she loved to cook, and it was her way of winding down after shifts.

Ava was pulled out of her thoughts by a set of arms wrapping themselves around her waist as she poured the orange juice.

“if you keep kissing me, Matt, you will never get to have your breakfast” she huffed.

“mmm I don’t need breakfast when I have you” he replied, whilst shoving a piece of fruit in his mouth.

“try telling your stomach that whilst you do intense physical training with your team, you are their leader now, you have to set a good example for them, so that means eating a balanced breakfast every morning that caters for your highly physical job” Ava said whilst she put the plates on the island.

“you know I love it when you go all doctory on me” matt smiled as he sat down on one of the stools at the island.

“I’m pretty sure, ‘doctory’ isn’t a word, my love” Ava laughed as she sat down next to him.

“but I like it, it’s sexy” he added.

“now eat your breakfast otherwise, it will go to waste” she replied.

“sir, yes sir” he replied with a mock salute

Matt smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and in that moment, Ava wished she could freeze the scene and stay like that for ever.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Owen sat in his new office, in his new firehouse, watching over his new crew. The piece of metal that he had kept from the towers, sat on his desk. He looked over to see Michelle sat at her desk signing some papers and swinging on her chair.

He turned around to look out the window, and he saw TK and Mateo cleaning the ladder truck, Marjan was sitting at the table reading magazine and Paul was working out in the gym.

Just as Owen was about to start some paperwork the alarm went off. Dropping everything he ran down to get his gear and he got into the truck, his team hot on his heels.

When they arrived at the scene, he was not expecting to find people flinging themselves out of their office windows and scratching at their faces, stabbing themselves with forks and having seizures on tables. It was like something had possessed them. And then Paul did his thing, which was creepy AF but also strangely amazing and it turned out that some freak had decided to poison them with large amounts of mercury.

After sending about sixteen people altogether to the hospital, Owen couldn’t help but feel guilty for overloading the ER like that, but unfortunately that wasn’t his job, to worry about how the ER would cope with sixteen cases of mercury poisoning. But that didn’t stop him from driving all the way to the ER room, walking in and taking a seat next to the vending machine.

While he was sat there, he just people watched. Watched nurses send people on their way, help people to their cars, watched mothers and brothers and sisters take their family member home. But it was about half an hour into his people watching that a red alarm went off and he saw Ava run to the red phone on the wall, take down some notes and then announce on the microphone that there was a air ambulance patient coming in with a suspected broken femur and pneumothorax after falling whilst rock climbing.

And about five minutes later, there was a rush of doctors and nurses running around, wheeling a gurney into cubicle number 5. Ava was shouting commands and pushing in an IV then ripping open his shirt, pressing on his ribs, then shoving in a chest tube, then intubating him, then setting his leg, pushing the bone back into the leg, then wheeling him away to emergency surgery.

The strangest thing that occurred after that was the eery silence, and when Owen looked into the cubicle, he saw a huge pool of blood on the floor, ripped packets on the floor, tubes and wires n the floor, all discarded in a frantic rush to save the man’s life, and then Ava walked back into the cubicle, ripped off her yellow gown and gloves chucked them in the bin, and then asked for a mop and bucket to be brought to her. Then to his surprise she asked the cleaner to go and she cleaned up the cubicle herself, mopping the blood up, putting all the packets and wires and tubes into the bin and then when she was finished she walked across the ER and into her office.

Once again, Ava was thinking of others when she did that, and that was why she made such a great doctor, she cared a lot, sometimes too much, and sometimes to the point that it all consumed her. But with her job, it looked like she knew when to stop caring, or when to know her limit. And that was what made Owen immensely proud of her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mercury poisoning wasn’t the strangest thing Ava had ever seen in her time as an ER doctor, but it was the first time she had actually dealt with it and not just read it in a textbook, and it was certainly the first time she had dealt with it on mass.

The amount of restraints she had to tie around people wrists and ankles to stop them from thrashing about and ripping out the IVs and to stop them from hurting themselves further was insane.

But after it had all calmed down Ava had about two minutes until she was desperately trying to keep someone else alive and then after that had all calmed down, Ava was dealing with an anxious mother and then a woman in labour and it all just carried on.

There was never a quiet day in the ER but that was how she liked it, Ava craved the adrenaline drive from her job, the rush of nerves when a patient came in, the satisfaction when they survived it to theatre, but the one thing she hated was when they didn’t make it theatre and they die don her watch. Because then it was paperwork, copious amounts of paperwork and then the worst part telling the wating family members and then she somehow had to go back to normal after it all. That was the hardest part of the job.

When she finally got to sit down in her office, she was greeted with a very big pile of paperwork to fill in an have to the director of the hospital by the end of the day. Sighing ava opened the first file and got to work.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Twelve hours later

Tk sat on the park bench, it was 4am in the morning, he’d just run out of Carlos’ house and he was now contemplating whether to go back and explain himself, but right now he really didn’t want to do that.

Tk picked up his phone and his finger hovered over the call button on Ava’s contact. He wanted to call her, to moan to her, to get her to tell him why he was so messed up, because god knows he wanted to know. But he didn’t want to disappoint himself, what if she didn’t say anything, what if she hung up, what if she didn’t answer.

Sighing, Tk locked his phone and began to walk home. When he finally got to the house, after what seemed hours of walking, he realised he’d left his keys at Carlos’ house. He really didn’t want to wake his dad up, he had been working so hard recently, and that cough seemed to be taking it out of him.

This was a sign from the infinite being above to call his sister.

“come on TK, get a grip” he muttered to himself.

He pressed ring.

“TK? You okay?” was the concerned voice he was met with.

“emm, yeah, I mean I am, and I am not. I’m okay physically, I just need someone to pick me up.” He stuttered, god what was wrong with him.

“yeah sure, where are you? She asked

“oh, I’m outside dad’s house” he huffed.

“right, okay, and where is that, I haven’t been to see the house yet TK” she asked, he could hear some rustling and quiet hushed words from the background.

“down to road and right from the firehouse, I’ll wave at you when I see your car” he said.

“okay, hang tight, do you need me to stay on the phone?” ava asked, a hint of concern in her voice still.

“no, I’ll be okay, you won’t be long right” he asked, feeling like a ten-year-old child again.

“no, no, I’ll be as quick as I can” she reassured, she then hung up.

It wasn’t long before; TK heard a car approaching. And then he saw the headlights pointing in his direction. He stood up from where he was sitting on the steps and walked over to the truck. Just as he was about to get in, he heard the driver door open and then shut, and then he was pulled into a very tight hug.

“are you sure, you are okay, you look tired and cold, are you cold?” ava said, as she frantically brushed him down with her hands.

“no, ava, I’m fine, and I’m tired because it is 4am in the morning and I’ve just come off a twenty-four-hour shift.” He said, a little bit too aggressively, because after he said it, Ava recoiled and took a step back, signalling for him to get in the car.

TK regretted what he had said all the way to Ava’s house, she said nothing and just drove, occasionally glancing to her left to make sure he was still wake or still breathing. After what seemed like the longest drive ever, they finally arrived at her house.

It was nice, a long slate drive leads up to a rather large front garden and then to an equally as big house. Two large bay windows were at the front with a double handled door on the front. As they walked into the house, she switched the lights on and TK was met with a huge staircase in the centre of the house, with two archways either side of it, one leading into a long kitchen with bifold doors at the end of the room, on the other side was the sitting room and dining room which were being decorated. They place was littered with boxes and unwrapped furniture.

Ava led him into the lounge and grabbed a duvet from one of the boxes, and placed it on the floor with a pillow, toothbrush and towel.

“I have a shift in about four hours so I’m going to hit the bed, but if you need anything just call, okay, I’ll be there” she whispered.

“thanks” Tk said as he set up his makeshift bed.

He was about to say sorry but when he turned around, Ava was already upstairs, and he could hear more hushed murmurs coming from their room. And then their light went off and TK was once again alone.

Sighing, he took off his hoody and got into his ‘bed’. He quickly fell asleep as he was so tired, and the house was so far away from their neighbours that it was completely silent.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Owen woke up, he woke up to three missed calls from Ava and a rather long text from Michelle asking him to call her too.

Owen ha never sat up so quickly in his life, he immediately pressed call to Michelle.

“Michelle is everything okay?” he asked

“yes, I just need to pass on a message from officer Reyes, saying that he was worried about TK because he left his house at 3am yesterday and he hasn’t heard from him since” Michelle replied, it sounded like she was still asleep.

“oh, right, I don’t think I heard TK come in last night, I’ll check his room and then I’ll call his sister, she might know where he is.” Owen said, Michelle thanked him and then very politely said, she needed to go back to sleep.

After he hung up, he padded down to TK’s room where he was met with a very tidy room and a bed that had not been slept in.

Sighing, he quickly pressed call on Ava’s contact, silently hoping that she knew where his son was.

“hey dad, you okay, I’m at work right now” she said cheerily.

“yeah, have you seen TK? It’s just he didn’t come home last night, and I’m not usually this worrisome, but given the situation only like last month, I am worrisome now” Owen rambled.

“yes, he stayed with me last night, I think he is still asleep on my sofa, according to Matt.” Ava said.

“oh, thank God, thank you so much, I really didn’t want to call the police, that would have been terrible” Owen said between a massive surge of relief.

“listen Dad, I would love to chat, but I’m at work, but if you want you can pop round later and pick TK up.” She replied.

“yeah sure, just text me the time” Owen replied.

“okay, love you” ava said as she hung up.

Wiping a hand over his face, Owen sat back down on his bed, God he needed to stop being so protective of TK, he really did. He couldn’t keep reacting like this evreytime he didn’t come home one night. It was not good for TK or him, especially since his doctor said he had to keep his stress levels down, otherwise the chemo wouldn’t work as well as it should.

Deciding that everything could wait, Owen went back to bed deciding to watch some crap telly in bed and have a lazy morning.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TK was woken up by a loud crash and muffled curse. Sitting up, he was met with Matt standing in the kitchen surrounded by shards if glass and a large pool of orange juice surrounding him where he stood.

“hey man, don’t move, I’ll get a bag and a brush.” TK said, as he hopped off the couch and grabbed a brush from the box by the kitchen archway.

“sorry I woke you man, ava told me to be quiet, guess that’s not my thing” Matt said as TK started to pick up the glass shards and wipe up the juice.

“don’t worry, I was already half awake anyway, and I won’t tell Ava” TK said as he put the bag in the trash.

“thanks, hey do you fancy some juice, or some cereal?” Matt asked as he sat down at the kitchen island.

“I’m good thanks, I’m not that hungry to be honest, but I think, I’ll have a shower, I that okay?” he asked, as he reached for his towel, which Ava had placed on the coffee table in the lounge.

“yeah sure, bathroom is just up the stairs and, on the left,” Matt replied.

“thanks man” TK said as he made his way upstairs.

“no worries, I’m just off out, you need anything” matt shouted.

“I’m good thanks” Tk replied,

Just as he got in the shower, he heard the bang of the door and then the rumbling of an engine as he left the drive.

This house was huge, he was amazed. Having grown up in nice apartments in New York, Tk was used to having quite a bit of space, but this was beyond anything he had imagined. And he could tell that when it was finished, it would be amazing to live in and raise a family in.

After getting dressed and having some juice that matt had left out for him, he decided that he would watch tv and maybe call his dad to let him know he was okay.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ava felt awful, she felt sick and she felt like she was going to throw up at any time. She sat in her office with a huge glass of water, her head in her arms, trying not to throw up all over her desk.

She had checked her temperature, that was normal, he hadn’t eaten anything bad the last two days. Maybe she was tired or overworked. But either way she hoped it would go away.

A knock on her door, made her lift her head up.

“hiya, ava I know you told me not to disturb you, but the director needs you.” Said Annie, she was her best friend, they had met at med school and had decided to take the same two internships at Austin general.

“yep, Annie, tell him ill be there in like five minutes okay” she replied.

“Ava are you okay, you look like shit” Annie said, as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

“no, I feel awful, An and I don’t know why” she whined.

“have you eaten anything bad in the past 48 hours?” Annie asked

“no” she replied

“is your temperature high?” Annie asked again

“no” she whined

“is your period late?” Annie asked

Ava paused, “emm…I don’t think so…I mean by a few days but nothing major” she replied

“have you and matt had sex recently?” Annie asked, she was now kneeling in front of her, her brown eyes gazing into her green ones.

“I mean, yes, but we weren’t trying” ava replied.

“okay, I’m going to get you a pregnancy test okay, I’ll be back” Annie said, as she got up and hurried out of the office.

“oh god” she moaned. This was not what she needed, okay she wanted children, but not yet, her and matt had only just moved into the house. And the house wasn’t ready for them, let alone a baby.

A few minutes later Annie returned with a box in her hands.

“right you, let’s go to the staff toilets at the back of the ward” Annie said as she took her best friend’s hand and lead her to the toilets.

And that is how Ava found herself, sitting on the toilet floor, her best friend next to her, both staring at a small white tube, waiting for it to show a sing.

“why does it take so long” ava said as she fidgeted around.

“I don’t know, but you need to calm down Av” Annie said as she took ava’s shaking hands in her own and squeezed them comfortingly.

“it’s ready, do you want to look, or shall I” Annie asked as she took the tube in her hands.

“you do it, please” ava replied.

“okay, here it goes” Annie said, as she turned the tube over in her hands.

“ava, look at me?” Annie said, suddenly very serious,

“no, I don’t want to know” ava replied.

She then felt two hands, grab her face and turn it to face the little white tube.

“ava you are pregnant” Annie said, a huge smile on her face.

Ava couldn’t believe it, she was pregnant. This was not the plan. But she couldn’t believe it.

She was pregnant, she was going to be a mom.

She was going to have a child, a part of her and part of Matt.

And that was what was most important, she was carrying a piece of her and Matt.

She was pregnant.

Smiling she hugged Annie tight and let Annie celebrate and ramble about being an aunt and the coolest aunt ever.

But all Ava could think about was that very small piece of her and matt inside her.


	3. part 3

**Once again, these characters are not my own, apart from Ava and Matt.**

**I’m sorry for the long wait, I really struggled trying to establish where this fanfiction was going, but don’t worry I am still carrying on with it and I’ve found a way through my brain block. I appreciate all your comments and likes and bookmarks on this story.**

**Any suggestions or comments would really help as I thrive on comments.**

**Anyway, enough of my rabble, here it is the latest chapter.**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

Three weeks later

Telling matt had gone surprisingly well, of course he was upset that she didn’t want it. But he understood that it probably wasn’t the best time to bring a baby into the world. They had gone to the clinic together and made an appointment. And since then, Matt hadn’t been very talkative, instead he’d been throwing himself into work and barely saying three words to her all day, every day.

But if she was honest, she hadn’t been very talkative either, she didn’t know what to say or do, so she had booked extra shifts and she’d been sleeping at the hospital when she had a double shift.

Ava was pulled out of her thoughts by Grace walking into the room. Ava had decided to visit grace to check up on Judd and just to have a chat. They hadn’t really seen much of each other the past three months, since Judd had been recovering from the incident and grace had been looking after him.

“you okay, Hun, you look tired” grace asked as she brought a tray of tea to the table.

“if I’m honest, I’m shattered, grace, I’m overworked and overwhelmed. This whole house moving thing is just stressing me out, and then…then there’s the…” she said, as she wiped a hand across her face and put her head on the table.

“okay, what’s going on, because I know you, Miss Andrews, you only take extra shifts when you want to avoid something, and I know for a fact that it’s not about the house, so are you going to tell me what’s the matter or will I have to beat it out of you” grace said as she sat down next to her and poured her another cup of tea.

“beat it out of me, no thanks” she replied, regretting it as it was slightly more aggressive than she meant it to be.

“that was a joke, ava, please don’t get all defensive either, it never helps anyone” grace replied, taking her hands into her own.

“I’m pregnant” she said, as a small single tear fell down her cheek.

“I’m sensing I shouldn’t jump up and down and cheer” grace whispered

“I’m also booked in for a termination” ava replied

“oh honey, and I guess that’s what’s on your mind” grace asked

“yes, and matt wont talk to me and I don’t know whether I want it or not, and it’s all falling apart, what with TK and Dad, moving here” she ranted, tears were now properly falling down her face.

Grace didn’t say anything, she just got up, walked around the table and pulled Ava into a comforting hug. She whispered soothing words as she rubbed circles on her back and rested her chin on her head.

“you can stay here tonight, if you want” grace said, as she tidied away the tea and guided her over to the couch where she grabbed a blanket and threw it over her and settle down next to her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Owen sat at the table in the kitchen, today had been a particularly dramatic call, when he heard that TK was going down in the grain silo, he had never felt so scared since the overdose in New York. But then when he came rolling out, covered in grain dust, if that was a thing, the fear had been quelled by an overwhelming sense to bubble wrap his son and send him back home and lock the door. But instead he ran over to him and pulled him to his feet and gave him a rather less dramatic hug.

Owen was pulled out of his thoughts by raised voices coming from the truck area. Sighing he got up and was met with a red-faced Judd, and equally angry looking TK and a stressed-out Paul standing in-between them. Deciding that it looked like it was under control he went back into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot. It wasn’t the same as his prized coffee machine, but it did the trick.

Tk despite staying the night at his sister’s house still refused to talk to her about the issues they faced. And as much as that infuriated Owen he knew he couldn’t intervene with these things, knowing that if he did it would not end well.

On top of his kid’s issues, he had the small issue of his cancer, which despite him ignoring it to the best of his abilities, wouldn’t go away. He didn’t want to tell his kids, ruin their life. No, he was going to keep it to himself if he could. Deep down he knew that wouldn’t work but he was going to try, nevertheless.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Judd arrived home, he did not expect to see grace fast asleep on the sofa with Ava strand. Deciding to not wake them up, Judd took out his phone and took a quick picture and sent I tot captain.

He got a smiley face in reply. Smiling to himself Judd helped himself to the food on the side that had been left out for him and decided to eat it in the garden to not disturb grace and ava.

When Judd had first met Ava, he wasn’t sure whether he like her or not. Looking back, it was probably the very hard and serious bravado she puts on when she meets new people, Grace calls it her ‘doctor mode’. Which when Grace first said it, made Ava laugh. And for that split second, he saw the real Ava, the smiley, fun, ava, who for some reason was afraid to show that side of her.

See as Judd got to know her and Matt more, Judd noticed that Ava was distrustful of everyone. She cared a lot about everyone she met, but she didn’t trust them. He didn’t really know why at the time, but he did find out on a drunken evening with matt.

They were sitting in the back of his truck, after one too many beers and it just came out.

_Flashback_

_“hey man, why does Ava never talk to me?” he slurred_

_“it’s nothing, she likes you, it’s just who she is” matt replied_

_“yeah but she’s cools with Grace and all of the other guys” he pressed_

_“look what I say cannot leave this truck, okay” matt said, suddenly all very serious_

_“yeah sure, I won’t tell” Judd replied_

_“you remind her of her first fiancé before me” matt said_

_“oh right, did it not end well” Judd said_

_“he died, in combat about six years ago. He was my brother, we were both on the same team in the navy and we were on a mission, simple one, retrieve a hostage and return them to the states. Routine, did them all the time. But this time, we were ambushed by a load of resistance combatants and Micah was killed, shot in the head, no way he would’ve survived.” Matt said after opening another beer_

_“oh man, I’m sorry” Judd replied_

_“anyway, I was the one who told her, she was pregnant with their baby, and she was living in Austin. I felt sorry for her and I was consumed with grief and guilt, so I moved in with her, to look after her and my future niece or nephew. And I don’t know, maybe it was the stress of losing Micah or the grief or just everything, but she lost the baby, she was sixth months gone, it was horrific.” Matt said, this time he was crying, and Judd just placed his hand on his shoulder, prompting matt to carry on, it was obvious he needed to._

_“it was about a year after, Micah’s death and the miscarriage that we started dating. Shed sold the flat and was renting a small bungalow downtown and we started off casual, just friends and then here we are now.” Matt said_

_“wow, and I thought being a firefighter was tough” Judd said._

_“yeah, I mean life is crap, but it was like that year Ava just got the crappiest of them all” Matt replied._

_End of flashback_

After that, Judd had realised that he needed to tread carefully with Ava and let her warm to him. And now three years later, all four of them are best friends, they go on double dates, go line dancing together. Judd loved their friendship and now with TK around, he couldn’t wait to get to know him too, despite him being a real pain in the ass.

But Judd got the feeling that her and Tk didn’t have the best of relationships and that whatever it was, was a rather large open wound and delving too deep would be like rubbing salt on that wound.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Ava woke up, Grace was still asleep, and it looked like Judd had gone to bed too. Deciding that it was best if she went home, she got up, grabbed her bag and jacket and went to leave. She left a quick note for grace and Judd, thanking them for letting her crash at theirs and then she heads on her way.

Ava’s favourite song was playing, July by Noah Cyrus, so she turned it up and rolled down the window, it was dusk, and the soft purple glow of the sky was lighting up her car. Smiling ava carried on driving, down the empty roads. A ping on her phone brought her out of her musings, looking down to gain a quick glance at the notification, she was met with a tornado alert. Deciding to take the precaution seriously, ava closed her window and turned the music down. She had about half an hour to go until she got home, so she decided that she’d take the short cut and try and get home as quick as possible without rushing.

About fifteen minutes into her short cut, the wind started to pick up and she could hear tornado alarms in the distance coming from where she’d just been driving. Another ping on her phone got her attention and it was Matt, asking where she was, deciding that he needed to know that she coming home, she put her phone on the dashboard and called matt putting him on speaker phone.

“hey baby, where are you, I’ve been worried sick2 matt said

“hiya, just on my way home now, I’ll only be about ten minutes, I’m just driving down porter’s road” she said as she overtook another car.

“okay, stay safe alright, I’ve got enchiladas on the go, if you’re hungry” matt said

Ava laughed, as she went to turn left, but what she didn’t see was another car which was trying to overtake her. There was loud honking of a horn and ava looked to her ;eft and when she saw the car coming towards her she swerved to try and avoid hitting the car, but as she swerved she didn’t see the tree and she went crashing into it, as the front of her car buckled under the pressure of the crash ava was thrown forward and she hit her head on the steering wheel, and darkness enveloped her.

“ava, hey, you okay, Ava” matt said down the phone, which was now lying in the footwell.

“AVA!” matt shouted

“AVA!” he shouted again.


	4. part 4

“va can you hear me” said a voice, it seemed distant, it was like she was underwater.  
“Ava, wake up” the voice said again.  
With a groan, ava lifted her head from the hard surface, and she was immediately met with an intense pain on her forehead and in her right shoulder. She must have whimpered because a soft hand then guided her to rest her head on the head rest of the seat, she was in.  
“ava looks at me” the voice persisted.  
With a herculean effort she turned her head to the left and she was met with the concerned eyes of Matt.  
“hey, you’re okay, you were in a car crash, I’ve called 911 they are on their way” matt said  
She started to panic, her breath came quickly, she could feel her heart beating in her chest hard. She did not know how to tell him; the words did not come. She started to cry, she could feel the hot tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping into the crooks of her neck.  
“hey, it’s okay, you will be okay” matt said.  
matt took he uninjured hand and squeezed it hard, and stroked her hair away from her face, where the blood had dried sticking the hair to her face.  
Just as ava was about to start crying again, out of frustration, her world was full of blue and red lights, and before she knew it matt was no longer facing her, it was her dad. His face full of concern and worry, whilst simultaneously trying to figure a way to get her out of the car.  
Michelle appeared on the other side of the car in the passenger seat, she placed a neck brace on her neck and then injected something into her arm.  
Immediately Ava felt better, the pain was gone, and she felt numb. Judd had appeared at some time, and he lent over to grab her and pull her out of the car, but as soon as he touched her right shoulder she cried out in pain.  
Everyone froze, and immediately turned their attention to why her arm hurt. She did not know, but she could see that their actions were slower and more careful.  
She could hear them saying something about staying awake but all she wanted to do was sleep, the darkness started to creep into the visions and in the end, she decided to let the darkness engulf her.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
When Owen turned up at the scene of the crash, he didn’t really know what to expect, all they had been told was that a young female had been caught up in the crash and major but not life threatening injuries and that she was also pregnant.  
But what Owen did not expect was to see his daughter, sitting in a car, with a three-inch gash on her forehead, crying, trapped, sacred and with matt trying desperately to calm her down.  
His heart caught in his throat, no, he could do this. He pushed all his unnecessary parent thoughts to the back of his head and focused on the job.  
He told matt to step back and go and wait by the ambulance with tk. He did not want TK seeing his sister like this. He knelt to Ava's level, she looked scared and in pain, he immediately called for Michelle, she appeared in the passenger seat. She looked calm and collected but he could tell that she was worried.  
They decided it would be best if they could get Ava out of the car and onto a gurney so they could assess he better. So, Owen decided he would try and get her out, Judd came along to help. The last thing he was expecting was for ava to cry out in pain the moment Judd touched her arm.  
“most likely dislocated” Michelle said as she turned and grabbed a small sling to place ava’s arm in whilst they extracted her from the vehicle.  
“hey ava, stay awake” Owen said as he turned his attention back to his daughter.  
Ava turned to look at him, and then completely fell unconscious  
“she’s out cold” he said, throwing a worried glance towards Michelle.  
“that’s fine, it’s probably for the best, I wouldn’t want her to be in that much pain when we move her” Michelle replied, her eyes softening at the look on his face.  
Eventually they got Ava out, and once they assessed her, Michelle and Tim whisked her into the ambulance. He vaguely noticed matt climbing in behind her and shutting the doors.  
Owen decided that he and TK would go the hospital and everyone else would follow sometime later.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Ava woke up to a very annoying beeping sound and a cold air blowing through her nose. She sighed and turned her head to find her dad, sitting in a chair asleep in what seemed like a very uncomfortable position. She turned her head to the other side and found Matt, asleep in an equally uncomfortable chair.  
“I wouldn’t wake them if I were you, they have barely gotten any sleep” said a voice.  
Ava looked ahead to see Annie, standing at the foot of her bed, a chart in her hand. She looked tired, mind you all doctors looked tired. But Annie looked tired around her eyes.  
“you look like shit” ava said as she fiddled with her cannula.  
“ditto” Annie replied as she smiled and walked round to the side of the bed.  
“what happened” ava asked, she could not really remember much.  
“you were in a car crash, you crashed into a tree, ended up with a dislocated shoulder and quite a nasty gash on your forehead” Annie replied.  
“damn, didn’t think my driving skills were that bad” ava said, that caused Annie to laugh  
“you scared the shit out of me though, when I saw you come through those doors, blood running down your forehead, unconscious, man I thought you were dead, ava” Annie whispered.  
“hey, hey, I’m okay though, yeah don’t think I’ll be driving for a while, Annie, seriously though, I’m fine” ava said as she took Annie’s hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.  
“I know, I know, it’s just me being dramatic” Annie said  
“what about the baby?” ava asked.  
“as far as we know the baby is fine, your head and shoulder took the brunt of the force, if it had been your torso, we might be having an entirely different conversation” Annie said as she squeezed her hand back.  
They were both pulled out of their thoughts by Owen waking up, with quite a groan. His eyes immediately lit up when he saw ava.  
“hey, you, how do you feel” he asked as he took Annie’s place on the side of the bed.  
“alright I guess, but that’s the morphine talking” ava replied as she shifted in the bed.  
“why didn’t you tell me that you are pregnant?” her dad said as he stretched his back.  
“I was, going to tell you, but I didn’t factor into account the situation of crashing my car into a tree I suppose” she said, instantly regretting the snarky tone she said it with.  
“right, I know that tone, and that is not true, so do you want to try again” Owen replied  
“I guess, if it old you, it would become real. Like I was going to be someone’s mom, and I don’t know if I’m ready you know” ava said  
“oh ava, I don’t think anyone is ever ready to be a parent, okay maybe financially, but emotional, hell no. your mother and I we were emotional wrecks up until we had TK, because with you it was the first time but with TK at least we had an idea of what we were not supposed to do.” Her dad said  
“so, the moral of that story is having two children so you can get it right the second time” ava said  
“no that isn’t what I meant, experience wise yes, but the minute I held you, I knew that I loved you, too much to ever put into words and I guess I let that love guide me, and you turned out pretty good” her dad replied  
“I guess I did, didn’t I” ava smiled.  
“I’m going to leave you two alone now, because I think you have some things to talk about, but I’ll only be outside if you need me okay?” her dad replied.  
Ava smiled and turned her head towards Matt, who was now peering at her with tear filled eyes.  
“hey, you” she said as he sat closer to her.  
He did not say anything, he just sat there, taking her in, looking at the cut on her head, her shoulder in the sling. The wires attached to her. She saw a single tear fall down his cheek and rip onto the sheet next to his hand.  
And then another and another, until matt was fully crying into her uninjured shoulder, ava carefully rubbed circles on his back to reassure her.  
“hey, I’m okay, I’m okay, the baby is okay, we are all okay” she whispered.  
“I know, it’s just when you weren’t answering and then I found you there, you looked dead, and all I could think about was not having you or the baby and I couldn’t stomach that thought” he said between hitched breaths.  
“and you will never ever have to imagine that again, do you hear me, because I’m not going anywhere and neither is our baby, apart from into the world in six months’ time” ava said  
That made matt laugh and that was how they stayed, matt curled into her side asleep, and that is how Owen found them when he walked back in, to find the couple fast asleep in each other’s arms.


	5. part 5

Hello, I am back. So, I have decided we have three more chapters left and then an epilogue. I am already planning another fanfic. Anyway, so the timeline in this is slightly different to the show. This chapter takes place right before TK gets shot. Next chapter will be surrounding that episode.   
Anyway, here it is. hope you guys enjoy. 

THREE MONTHS LATER 

Ava stood in the bathroom, her hands on the sides of the sink, she was staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, it had gone from a neat pony tail to some sort of side middle pony tail, with strands of her hair sticking out everywhere. She had bags under her eyes, she was as pale as the tiles on the floor, and she had a lovely line across her forehead, and no matter what creams she applied, or how much concealer she used, it would not go.   
Matt said she looked beautiful no matter what, but deep down she knew there was nothing that anyone could say or do that would stop her staring at it every morning, wishing it was somewhere else on her body, so she could hide it from prying eyes and weird looks.   
She was seven months pregnant now, her bump officially too big to hide. And it was nice, she and Annie had gone maternity clothes shopping the other day. So, ava now had some very pretty dresses and blouses, as well as some super comfy jeans and sweatpants. Matt had bought a crib and was attempting to construct it and failing. There were still boxes around the house, but most of it had been unpacked by now and finally the house was starting to look like a home and not some rooms with windows and doors.   
Taking a deep breath, ava prepared herself for the next wave of morning sickness to wash over her. And soon enough she was retching into the toilet, sweat beading on her forehead, stinging the still sensitive skin surrounding her scar. But it was a welcome relief from the endless cramping in her stomach. If she did not have a bump, ava was pretty sure she had abs from all the cramping of her muscles.   
This wave of sickness was bad, it was painful, and ava just wanted to cry. Deciding that she needed some company, ava lifted herself up off the floor and into her bedroom, she plonked herself on the floor at the end of the bed and leant back against the cool metal frame of the bed.   
Matt was out all weekend on a training session, and she knew that she could not call him. Both her dad and TK were working, and Michelle was spending the weekend with her mom. Ava could not call her mom, because she was in china working. Annie was working and so that left Grace.   
Reaching over for her phone without trying to throw up was a challenge, but she managed to do that small task. She dialled Grace’s number, but nobody answered. She called again and again but she still did not answer. Ava could not take it anymore, she just sat there and cried. The tears were rolling down her face fast, her sobs were loud, and she could not stop. She did not even know why she was crying now; all she knew was that she could not stop.   
Ava picked up her phone again and texted Michelle:  
Hey,   
Are you free now, I know you are with your mom?   
Xx   
A   
Ava waited and then Michelle replied

Hi ava,   
I am sorry but I am busy now. If it is urgent, I can call Carlos, he has a day off today?  
Xx Michelle 

Ava decided that having Carlos around would be nice, he was one of her first friends, and he would know what to do.   
Yes, please xx 

Deciding that maybe she should tidy up a bit, Ava decided to try and get up, but it just ended up in her not being able to get up as there was nothing to lean on. That was when ava officially decided she hated being pregnant. She could not even get up without help. So, ava decided that she would sort herself out. She untied her hair and managed to give it a brush, she was in one of her nice dresses, as she had got up feeling fine and then it hit her around eleven that she was going to be sick.   
“hey little one, I don’t know what you think about all this, but I promise I won’t be such a mess when you’re born. I’m going to be a mom, that is actually around and doesn’t abandon you when you are still a child” ava said.  
God what was wrong with her, she had started the conversation all happy and it had turned into a rage fuelled rant. Pregnancy hormones were bad.   
A knock at the door pulled Ava out of her thoughts. It was Carlos, shit. He did not know she could not get up, grabbing her phone she texted him.   
Hi Carlos,   
I am upstairs, I cannot get up, there is a spare key in the hanging basket  
X A

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
When Carlos read that text, his heart leapt up into his throat. Was she hurt, had she broken something? What was he going to tell Michelle, or matt or TK god?   
Practically running through the door as soon as it opened, Carlos took the stairs two at a time and then ran into the main bedroom.   
What he did not expect to find, was a teary Ava, unable to get up off he is sitting position on the floor, looking terrible.   
“hey, are you okay?” he asked  
“do I look okay?” ava laughed.   
“sorry, stupid question here let me get you up” he said as she gestured for her to take both of his hands.  
Once he had helped Ava up, he sat her down on the bed, gave her some stuff to clean herself up and then he sat down next to her.   
“so, are you going to tell me what’s wrong, Chica?” he asked   
“I had really bad morning sickness and then my emotions just got the better of me and I couldn’t stop crying, it was terrible” she said  
“oh Chica” he whispered.   
At the look on Ava’s face, Carlos pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. They stayed like that for quite a while, in silence, but just sitting there in each other’s company.   
“right, have you got food in” Carlos asked after they had hugged.  
“yes, of course, what sort of house do you think I run, Mr Reyes” ava had replied  
“in that case, I’m making dinner” he chirped as he helped ava off the bed and down the stairs.   
“you sit there, and I will make the food, and then we can watch that awful Netflix programme that you love so much” Carlos shouted from the kitchen.   
“I know you love it too Carlos” ava replied  
“that never leaves this house, do you hear me strand” he shouted back  
He heard Ava snort in reply and turn the tv on.   
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
After the dinner, ava had helped clear up and then they had sat down and watched hours of Brooklyn nine nine. Carlos complaining at all the police inaccuracies in it but laughing at every joke.   
Ava had not really watched it; she had been thinking about some things.   
“Carlos, will you be the godfather of my baby?” she burst out with halfway through one episode.  
Carlos turned to face her; his eyes wide.   
“I thought Grace and Judd were going to be godparents” Carlos asked  
“yes, they are, but they are Matt’s choice, I want you and Michelle to be my choice” ava replied with a smile.   
“I’d be honoured, ava, truly I would, thank you” Carlos replied, tears in his eyes.  
“Reyes, don’t cry around me, otherwise I will cry” ava said  
“sorry, I’ll stop” he said between hiccups  
“Reyes, I mean it, now I’m crying” ava laughed  
That made Carlos laugh and that was how they stayed, crying for no reason, and watching rubbish tv.


End file.
